The Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant could house 400 people upon completion, expected in 2015. The $140 million continuing care development takes its name from the family of Charles E. Miller and his son Paul, which gave the Frederick Road land in 2005 to Carroll Lutheran Village, a Westminster-based organization that started a senior living community in 1977 and today serves about 700 people in 400 homes.

The new development ran into delays with the crash of the housing market, but as of April three quarters of the 241 residences, mostly apartments, had been pre-sold, with 65 percent of the deposits coming from Howard County residents, said Geary Milliken, CEO of Carroll Lutheran Village, parent company for the new development. Miller’s Grant is expected to employ about 150 people, with a $4 million annual payroll, according to Milliken.

Buying the Transamerica tower — the tallest property in Maryland, with a prime downtown location and views of the Inner Harbor — sounds like a coup for a real estate company. Wall Street investors would beg to differ.

Neighborhood leaders and city officials say they are hopeful now that Baltimore's billionaire, Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank, controls a lot of the waterfront around the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River that isn't a city park.